I recently spent an amazing couple of days with Brookes Bell, a long-established international firm of marine technical and scientific consultants and surveyors, on their course At The Sharp End. This course has been running for over twenty years and is designed to provide a grounding in ships and marine operations for those of us working in and around the industry, but without the hands-on practical seafaring experience.
I got a fascinating insight into industry, the complexities of law and logistics, and the detailed expert sciences and engineering involved at every level. The course is run in conjunction with the Lairdside Maritime Centre at Liverpool John Moores University, (https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/faculties/faculty-of-engineering-and-technology/maritime-centre/facilities), which allowed me and my fellow course attendees the privileged opportunity to take part in an exercise in their 360 degree visual bridge simulator – a safe, though still challenging experience!
We were taken on board product tankers and bulk carriers, meeting deck and engine crews, and were able to watch discharge and loading processes.
I took much away from my time At The Sharp End. This has been an invaluable opportunity to achieve a direct view into these safety-critical, technically-precise working environments. I would thoroughly recommend this course to anyone who works in the maritime sector from a non-seafaring background.
For more information about the course please click the link below.